That One Squib
by Lor-tan
Summary: After a student is badly injured in class, Hagrid is fired and a new Care of Magical Creatures professor is hired.


**VERA**

Through the trees ran a blue blur. _Slip through the woods, to the left, to the right, to the right again, over this log, through the clearing, past the creek, YEEP! October!_ A little body almost crashed into a thestral, sparing the usually invisible creature only a yelp before dodging around it and continuing in its path. After a few moments, the thestral follows, its fangs snapping at air. _Up and over, to the left, slow down it's slippery, to the left, to the right, over another log, DUCK, watch out for thorns, over a log, here's the correct clearing._ The two beings slowed as they approached the break in the trees and the little pool therein. As they broke into the clearing, the little ones heart beating out of its chest and its gasps for air loud, it caught sight of the reflection in the water.

Good blue dress with a ruffled skirt and buttoned collar, now torn. Dirty blond braids that have half fallen out. Fat, flushed, scratched cheeks. Straight nose dripping with snot. Deep set pale blue eyes leaking tears. Thick lower lip trembling as she muttered "why" over and over. The skeletal head of October hanging over her shoulders, all snapping black fangs, hard hooked lips, anxious white eyes, and sparse curly mane dancing on a trembling black neck.

 _Why?_

 _Why would they send me away?_

"Vera, baby! It's for your own good!" Someone shouts far off in the distance, and the trembling lips suddenly scowl.

"I'm not your baby!" She screams. "And since when did you care about what was for my own good!" The shouting changes course, getting closer.

"I've always cared, baby! This world just isn't safe for you!" That's her mother, she thinks, feeling betrayed.

"I'm not your baby!"

"Yes, you are! You're my precious little girl, Vera, and I'm so sorry I have to do this to you!"

"Then don't!"

"I have to! The wizarding world just isn't safe for squibs!"

There; that word again. Squib. A word that means terrible things to Vera.

"I'm not a squib! I can use magic, and you know I can!"

"Honey, magic is more then just potions! You can't do magic, Vera! You don't belong here!" The voice of her mother is close now, so close. So close and taking everything away from her. Just like she'd always been doing since Vera's father died.

Behind her, October shrieks in outrage, and spreads her wings. How dare they accuse her girl of such things?

Her mother's voice is still getting closer.

Vera yelps as a bony head pokes between her legs, bouncing her up onto the thestrals skinny, flesh-less neck and then onto her equally bony back. Too many ribs jut into her legs through the soft as silk skin, and her blue dress catches on one of October's ridges, stretching until it tears. Then there's a lurch as the winged horse takes to the air, screaming and flapping her wings. October has been in the woods since before her father died, and even after, when she could finally see the winged horse properly, Vera has never once seen her flying.

The thestrals bones click against each other as she rises and she keeps tilting from side to side, trying to find the knack after too long without flying. Her white eyes are wide and panicked, and her mouth froths as she snaps her fangs in worry.

To be frank, it's dreadful.

And it is the most amazing thing Vera has even known, and she smiles as they rise higher and higher, until her mothers wails are far below them and the wing drowns out the clicking.

 _They didn't need to send me away, anyway_. She thinks as October starts flying in earnest now that she's used to it again, great wings beating against the air and tail stretched out behind her and whipping in the breeze, the long tuft at the end almost like a flag. _I'm quite happy to be going on my own. And now I can prove them wrong._

 _I_ am _magic._

 _I have to be..._

xXx

She isn't magic.

She has absolutely no accidental magic as she grows.

Vera waits up the night of her eleventh birthday, waits for her letter. And the night after. And all that week, then all that month. Yet her eleventh year passes without interruption. She and October bounce from place to place before finally settling down at an orphanage for wizarding children, making a home with the other orphaned squibs, young magicals yet to attend school, and muggleborns who were never accepted to Hogwarts. And years pass, until she is seventeen, and started to look for a way to survive in the magical world without magic. She still refuses to join the muggles and leave her thestral friend behind, but not many are willing to hire a squib.

She still hates that word.

Then she hears that Hogwarts is looking for another Care of Magical Creatures teacher because the last one has let a student be injured. So she is one of the few that applies for the positions, because she knows that magic will not be an absolute requirement.

And she hopes and hopes that she will get the job, because she still dreams of going to Hogwarts, even if this isn't the way she had originally wanted.

xXx

 _Vera Mulciber, we are honored to invite you to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the new professor of Care of Magical Creatures-_

Vera stares down at the square piece of paper in her hands. Slowly, a triumphant grin spreads across her face. She has never felt so happy in her life, she is almost certain. "They want me to go to Hogwarts." She whispers. With that she shouts happily, and scrambles to get out of the orphanage dining hall where the latter came, laughing all the way out the door and into the bright sun. "October!" She calls as she rushes for the corner of the yard. A few younger children who lived at the magical orphanage are outside, but they only call greetings to her as she disappears behind the thick bushes that infest one corner of the orphanage yard. They're used to Vera rushing off to talk to her thestral.

"October! Guess what?" Vera yells, pushing through the last of the bushes and into the tiny clearing hidden inside. She is greeted by a raspy snort and a bony shoulder shoving against her from behind. Vera whirls around and grins when she catches sight of the thestral. "I got something!" She announced proudly, shoving the letter in front of the horse. "We get to go, 'Tober! I was hired at Hogwarts!" October just snorts and stamps her cloven hoof into the thorny ground, as if to say _Of course you were. I've known you would be all along._

Vera's pretty sure that her face will break if she smiles anymore, so instead she pours over the letter with Octobers dragon-like head hanging over her shoulder, this time going past the first line and reading through it all, every last word. Inside, her mind is repeating the phrase, making it into her mantra.

 _I was hired at Hogwarts._

 _I was hired at Hogwarts._

 _I was hired at_ Hogwarts _!_

xXx

Vera's never been in a magical pet shop before. Her parents had barely taken her out, even before her fathers death, and she'd never left the orphanage much Besides, it wasn't as if she could get into Diagon alley easily enough without a wand. So finally stepping into this one hits her like a muggle truck.

There are all manner of creatures here. Kneazles, owls, rats, a six legged dog, and many, many more.

She isn't sure she'll even manage to ever leave. But she very much wants a pet to take to Hogwarts with her. Or two. Or three. Or maybe nine. Or the whole pet shop, with the way this is going so far.

To Vera's left there's a smooth hiss, and when she turns, grinning, to investigate, she isn't disappointing. There's a black snake the size of yard stick sitting in a tank, the skull shaped symbol on his diamond shaped head glistening like wet as he continues to hiss softly at her, his black eyes gleaming with dark amusement.

That one. She wants him.

Another sound draws her attention to two kneazles locked in a cage together, both yelling for attention. One is black, shot through with white hairs, with a white hour glass between her bright yellow eyes, and the other is an orange tabby, with topaz eyes and particularly soft looking white hair on the tip of her tufted tail.

Them too.

Movement in the corner of her eye attracts her to a tank full of spiders. A closer look reveals little human-like upper bodies attached to the eight legged lower body of the spiders. One of the little spiders hybrids catches her two eyes with its eight, and smiles at her, its mouth stretching back to show a tangle of tiny pincers.

These as well.

A growl makes her look around to see a short, pudgy little dog with legs that look too skinny for it's long body hanging in a cage from the ceiling. As she watches, furry reddish brown wings unroll from its back, and it growls again, this time with a slight coo to the rough sound.

Her, too.

The sound of flapping made her look to the two gilded cages beside the dog, containing separately a little bone white bat with huge black eyes and a barn owl with green feathers streaking its face and golden eyes.

Oh, them, definitely them.

After a bit more of a look around, she approaches the wooden counter, curious eyes still observing the fantastic array of creatures around her. She's met there by a man with a mop of brown hair and goggles hiding his eyes, and a particularly upset looking puffskein that's sitting on the counter, which is quite animatedly hissing and spitting in the mans face. In fact, it takes him quite a while to successfully get her back into her cage so that he can speak to Vera. Not that she minds. She'd had a puffskein too, when she was little, and recalls how they could be if you actually managed to even anger them. She can just barely remember it. It had soft spotty fur and blue eyes, and her father had ordered it from America for her.

"Danial Menthus, at your service." He introduces himself once the puffskein is safe in her cage and calming. "How may I help you, ma'am?" The man asked, and by the time she was done listing her requested creatures he looks more then somewhat somewhat love struck to her.

"You do realize, ma'am, that some of the creatures you just asked about are quite dangerous? You're fine with that?"

Vera grins. "Oh, I've raised a few creatures before, so I think I'll be up to it. All the same, do you have any special advice?" Danial looks thrilled.

"Well... the Nieths, that is the spiders if you didn't know, have very powerful bites, but they won't be too much trouble once they get used to you. They're really intelligent, and fairly affectionate after a while, actually. I have a few, and they climb all over me if I let them." Vera nods, and signals for him to continue. "The snake, I'd watch out with him. I'm sure you know that most Nymph Serpents are very poisonous, but the Sable species especially isn't known for being cuddly. Uh... The winged dog growls a lot, but she's an absolute sweetheart to be honest. And y'know, Kneazles will be kneazles, they'll be fine. And of course, I'm sure you know how to handle owls! The bat... well, she's a bit batty, if you get what I mean? Got a few screws loose. But nothing serious, of course. Just watch her, and make sure she doesn't get it in her mind to try and eat anything bigger and more dangerous then she herself is."

"Right, understood. Well then, where are supplies for them all?" There's hardly anything besides cages and tanks in the shop.

"Well, they come with whatever cage they're in now, which contain almost anything they may need, such as warmth for the snake or perches of for the owl and bat, plus will shrink if you need it to, with them not inside of course. Uh, the Nieths eat mainly butterfly crickets, you can buy them in bulk over there," He points towards a couple of sacks that lean against a wall. The corner of one was torn, and the little dead insects are spilled onto the ground. "The snake can hunt of his own, or you can conjure something for him. Kneazles have food over there," Again he points at some sacks. "And the dog can eat it as well, unless you want to special order something. As far as I know, most dogs will eat just about anything. The owl and bat can hunt on their own, of course. We have some treats though, if you want. Y'know what? I'll give you a couple samples to take. It's not often that we get pretty young witches in here buying Nieths and deadly snakes. You must be awfully brave." He winks at her, and she raises an eyebrow at him. Danial shrugs. "Yeah, well, um, anything else you may need to know?" Vera shakes her head in the negative, actually smiling a little. "Ah. Well then. For the animals and a bag of Butterfly crickets and another of kneazle food, that will be twenty five galleons. How will you pay?"

"Oh, well I don't have anything on me now, but could you make some sort of tab for me?" He nods.

"Yeah, maybe. To whom do I have the honor of making it out to?"

"Vera Mulciber, teacher of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts." She is pretty sure Danial swoons.

xXx

Vera decides to ride the train to Hogwarts with the students, hoping that she will meet one or two. Plus, she has never been on a train before, and the idea excites her.

She is having a staring contest when the knock on the door comes. The contest is between her and Nathaniel, which was what she had decided to name the snake. He is sitting across from her on the opposite seat, the tank of Nieths beside him. He was named Nathaniel, the winged dog Sadie, the bat Opaline, the orange kneazle named Vaadi, and black and white one Belliabae. She had yet to name the Nieths or the owl, but she's sure she'll think of something for them all.

She is staring hard into Nathaniel's shiny black eyes, and jumps when the knock interrupts her concentration, causing Nathaniel to hiss and the kneazles to yell in annoyance, which in turn causes the Nieths scurry around in their tank in worry. Moments later, a young girl with bushy brown hair pops her head in. "Have you seen a toad? A boy nam-" She begins before cutting off, her eyes widening.

"A toad, you say?" Vera asks, but she only gets a blank look in reply.

"Aren't you too old for Hogwarts?" The girl finally says after a long pause. "And... are you aware that there is a rather large snake on the seat in front of you?"

"I'm not a student." Vera replies, smiling. "And yes, of course I'm aware. I'm not blind. And his name is Nathaniel."

"You mean- You mean he's your pet!?"

"Yes. Why, haven't you even seen a snake as a pet before?" If not, then the girl must have had a very sheltered life, Vera thinks. Two of the little boys at the magical orphanage had snakes, and they are only ten. They'll probably be coming to Hogwarts themselves, next year, as students. Maybe she'll invite them for tea then.

"Well, no, I haven't, but I do know that some boys at my old school had them, but even then, that one is very clearly poisonous, if the head shape and eyes are anything to go by, so-."

"Oh, yeah, well, Sable Nymph Serpents are extremely poisonous. They can kill a grown man within an hour. Luckily, they're also very intelligent, and the chances of him biting me are pretty low. Unless I annoy him in any way whatsoever, of course. Then I'm officially dead." Okay, so maybe there's a reason that not many wizards, let alone witches, keep them as pets.

"Uh..."

"Wanna pet him?" Vera asks kindly. If she's going to be a teacher then she might as well get used to coaxing children into things. Yet for some reason, the girl refuses, shaking her head rather adamantly. "Oh. Well, if you want, I can help look for that toad. D'ya want it dead or alive?"

"What?"

Vera sighs. "I said, do you want it dead or alive?"

"A-alive, of course!" The girl looks absolutely panicked, for some reason that Very can't even imagine. She's been nothing but lovely, has she not? And Vaadi and Belliabae have completely stopped yelling, even if the Neiths still in a tizzy, and Nathaniel is hissing a bit yes.

Vera shrugs. "Suit yourself."

 **NEVILLE**

Neville looks wide eyed at the witch offering him Trevor. Beside her is a girl he recognizes; Hermione, with a mass of brown hair and soft eyes that look somewhat shook at the moment.

The woman, though, looks not the least bit familiar. Instead, she looks a bit severe. Her hair is dirty blonde with dark streaks running through it and pencil straight, and her blue eyes are so pale they're almost white, and they strike against her dark blue fitted robes. Her cheeks and lips look like they are stubbornly trying to hang on to any fat whatsoever, as every other plane of her face is as straight and thin as a knife. Her brow furrows at him as she continued to hold his toad out to him.

Of course, it isn't so much her appearance that stays his hand in taking Trevor, as the variety of dangerous looking creatures clinging to her shapely form. There is a massive black snake at least a meter long wrapped around her arm and waist, and two kneazles twining around her ankles, their tails whipping and their eyes shining. Plus, he's pretty sure he just saw a spider scurry behind a lock of her hair. Compared to them, Trevor looks small and pathetic where he sits nervously croaking in her hand.

"Are you going to take the toad or not? If I have to keep him, I can't guarantee nothing will eat him." The woman finally snaps, and Hermione hurries to snatch the toad from her before passing it on to Neville and then hurrying away down the train aisle, muttering ferociously under her breath.

"Ah! T-trevor!" He stammers once his hand closes around the big amphibian, bringing him back to his chest in the hopes that he'll be safe there. "Um- uh- t-thank you!"

The witch shrugs. "Yeah, no problem. I used to hunt toads all the time with October, as potions ingredients. Ah, not that they don't make great pets, too." She hurriedly adds on when Neville starts to turn a little green, before offering him her hand, thankfully not the one with the snake wrapped around her arm. "Well then, Norman Longbottom, right?"

"Uh, Neville Longbottom, actually..."

"Oh. Right. Sorry. Well I'm Vera Mulciber, the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures. Call me Vera, professor sounds too snooty. A pleasure to meet you?" She asks, seeming a little bit anxious, which seems somewhat amusing that she was nervous despite the fact that she wasn't being stared down by a rather large snake in this conversation, as he is.

"Uh..." Mulciber. He's heard that name before... where was it? Probably not important. "Sure. Likewise. Nice to meet you, pro- Vera?"

"Yeah, you too, Neville."

xXx

Nevilla has just barely entered the great hall when he notices a familiar figure at the staff table.

Vera meets his eyes from across the hall and holds his gaze for a moment, before smirking and raising a hand in salute to him.

Neville's pretty sure there is a tiny black spot of spider perched on her hand as she waves.

His name is called to be sorted, and when he's sorted into Gryffindor, he looks for her again once he reaches the table, suddenly hoping she approves of his sorting. She smiles, and then points at him, making him blink in surprise. A kneazle shoots towards him from under the staff table, and deposits a note in his lap before heading back to her.

"Congrats," He reads aloud to himself. "I always wanted to be a Gryffindor. Also, would you care to join me for tea tomorrow evening? I've asked Hermione as well, but you two are the only two students I know so far. Wave if you're interested! Vera."

Neville doesn't hesitate in waving his entire arm, nearly hitting the boy beside him in the process.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Hermione waving too.

xXx

We're just going to ignore Kettleburn's existence in this fic.

And let's face it: Hagrid was a terrible teacher. It's amazing that nobody else got hurt in his class. The books he chose alone could have hurt someone pretty badly. So in this story someone else did get hurt, and someone else had to take over the position. He's still there as the groundskeeper, just not teaching children. And don't worry, Vera isn't going to to teach through hands-on like him; she'll make sure her students are safe and don't get hurt. She likes all creatures, dangerous or not, like all decent teachers of that subject should, but she understands the damage they can do.

Please review, and thank you for your time!


End file.
